


We Take Care of Our Own

by urbaninja



Series: Everyone Lives [13]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen, Reunions, so many relationships to explore, there's a little bit of everything and everyone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-07 06:50:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8787925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/urbaninja/pseuds/urbaninja
Summary: It was a chaotic and unexpected reunion, but now they're all together again. A collection of shorts focusing on the reunions and meetings of a bunch of people who all assumed the others were dead.





	1. York/Carolina (1)

**Author's Note:**

> _We take care of our own_   
>  _We take care of our own_   
>  _Wherever this flag's flowin'_   
>  _We take care of our own_

“So, if Carolina is on Chorus, I’ve been working out a way to start my conversation with her. A way to break the ice, you know? I was thinking something like “Hey Carolina, if I said I liked your armour, would you hold it against me?” or something like that?”

“York, a word of advice,” 479er said, breaking up his rambling. She stood up from the pelican she was working on, holding a wrench in a way that some might consider dangerous. “Maybe don’t say something that’s going to make her want to punch you in the throat. Now pass me that screw driver.”

York complied, glad that at least one of them was happy. 

**

He planned continuously. 

At least some portion of every hour was devoted to the task of working out what he was going to say to Carolina. He ranged from pick up lines to long drawn out speeches that acknowledge everything that went wrong to a simple apology. 

It was driving the house mad. Well, everyone except for Florida, who was doing the thing where he was equal parts helpful and no help at all. As if he were some mystical guru trying to guide York down the path that would allow him to discover the truth for himself. 

Wyoming was fairly certain that Florida was full of shit and doing it because he thought York struggling was hilarious (a fact that he, Wyoming, didn’t disagree with). South agreed with Wyoming and more than once threw a pillow (or something else) in York’s direction.

York continued to fret.

**

And then the moment came.

After all was said and done. And everyone had gathered. And reunions were being held and everyone was marveling at how everyone else had survived. And planning was being put off so that everyone could be comfortable with one another for at least one night that he found her.

She had gone off by herself, and she was training. Of course she was training. This was Carolina. This was what she did when she was frustrated or stressed. Nothing had changed about her. Well, some things had probably changed, it had been years after all. But on the surface, it was just like normal.

He walked up to the area where she was training, and watched her, until eventually she stopped and her attention was on him.

And every single thing vanished from his mind. Every single pick up line, every speech, every word was gone. 

For a long time, they just stood there and stared at each other. 

“Hi,” York said, finally. Carolina made no reply.

York went to open his mouth, not sure what was going to come out of it but determined to soldier on until Carolina turned on her heel and left without a word.

“Was it something I said?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic's been a long time coming.
> 
> I'm trying out a multi-chapter approach as I felt it was the best way to give each relationship its due, given that there were a lot more I wanted to explore than I originally thought.
> 
> York and Carolina seemed like a good place to start though. Poor York, he tries.
> 
> The title of the fic comes from [We Take Care of Our Own](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x8zBzxCwsM) by Bruce Springsteen, which I felt was appropriate on many levels.


	2. North/South

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They've both missed each other more than they really feel they can admit.

It’s hard not to think that it’s a dream.

Even though North knows that it’s not. There are too many people involved for it to be a shared hallucination. But it’s hard not to think it’s a dream.

But he had spoken to South. Heard her voice. Was fairly certain he’d seen her in the chaos as she dove for the Pelican, and North had almost followed her, like old times, before he’d been yanked on to a different transport. He found himself antsy to get back to base. To see if everyone else from that moment showed up as well. To see if she really had made it. 

She had to. If York and Wyoming and Florida had made it then South had to. Even if it was just out of spite.

He tries to talk to Wash about it, but Wash is lost in his own mind and seems rather cagey about the whole thing so eventually he just drops it. 

Surprisingly, it’s Donut he ends up talking to. The pink armoured soldier listens intently, letting North ramble for a bit before finally interrupting. Mostly about his fears that it’s a dream and that what if South really doesn’t want to see him. 

“You know North, I think you’re over thinking this. I’m pretty sure it’s not a dream and I’m sure your sister misses you just as much. I mean, when Grif’s sister showed up, he was really mad about it but I’m pretty sure that that was just his way of showing that he cares. So it might be the same for you and your sister, except in reverse.”

“Wait, Grif has a sister?” 

\--

South, as it turns out, had similar worries. 

Her confident was not, however, as sympathetic as she would have liked and rapidly tiring of her demands.

“So you saw North?” 

“Yes, I saw him. Briefly. He looked fine. And alive. I told him to contact you and then I left,” Wyoming said, his voice the sound of patience wearing away.

“Can you tell me what he said?”

“We merely exchanged pleasantries. It’s not like we stopped to have a full conversation, given everything that was going on. I don’t know why you’re grilling me like this. We’ll be there soon enough and then you’ll have all the time in the world to talk.”

“I just want to be ready,” South replies, sourly. Ready for what, she’s not sure. North to be mad at her, North not really wanting to see her. 

She flip flops on whether or not she should be the one to look for him. First she decides that she should be the one to take action, to own up. But then her confidence wavers and she changes her mind. He should come to her. It’s better that way. But then she flips again and Wyoming finally decides he’s had enough. They haven’t even reunited fully and he’s already exhausted of his teammates again. 

South is left alone with her indecisions.

\--

In the end, it’s North who finds South. 

It’s a mess of people as everyone makes their way to the chosen location, an old Federation base that the New Republic had captured. The Freelancers are there, and CT and her people and a whole bunch of twitchy, unsure soldiers. 

He finds her by the Freelancers’ pelican. She’s hanging back, almost nervous. It’s weird to see her like that, as in all of North’s memories she’s brash and loud and out in front. He was the quiet one, the reserved one. He passes by the other Freelancers and York is about to say something, and vaguely he notices Florida hold him back and say something to him. Whatever it is, North doesn’t hear it and instead keeps pushing through the people up to his sister. 

South looks up at him and freezes like a deer in the headlights. She starts to say something but North is past words at this point and grabs her, pulling her into a tight bear hug. Whatever she has to say can wait, because all that matters right now is that he has his little sister, his twin back. South seems to understand as after a moment she stops fighting, and seems to sink against him, her arms coming up to hold him just as tightly. 

“I missed you,” he says finally, after a long while. 

“Yeah, me to,” South replies, almost surprising herself with how much she means it.

Eventually the hug ends, but neither of them is eager to part from each other. So they stay where they are, watching the crowds of people. 

“I almost gave up,” South says, not looking at North. 

“I almost did to,” North replies, though he glances at her. He can see lines on her face that weren’t there before, and a tired expression that doesn’t quite fit. He wants to ask her about it, wants to know what she’s been up to. How she wound up in the company of the other freelancers. Everything really. 

But there will be time for that later. They both have long stories to tell and many things to discuss, but for now, they have each other. 

And North wouldn’t trade that for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk, I just like the idea of North and Donut being friends. Or Donut just has a thing for guys in Purple armour. It's Donut, so who really knows? Probably both, let's be real.
> 
> South and Wyoming is another friendship I'm fond of. Even if it is a relationship based on Wyoming annoying South and South sniping back. Somehow they get along.
> 
> But that's two more characters reunited.


	3. Carolina/The Director

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _It’s a moment that neither has prepared for but it came too quickly. But they are both Churches, and with Epsilon in the mix there is no way that the Universe as an entity is going to pass up the opportunity to make sure that things don’t go as planned for any of them_

Carolina retreats from York amidst protests and questions from Epsilon. She finds herself having trouble accepting the reality of the situation. That everyone that she had thought was dead, had mourned, was alive. It just didn’t seem real. This had to be some joke, some weird side effect of having Epsilon in her head.

Epsilon takes offence to that and retreats to a quiet buzz in the back of her mind. Carolina really doesn’t mind that because she needs a moment to herself. A moment to think this through and let everything sink in. No matter how long that takes. 

She doesn’t know where she’s heading. Her last quiet spot had been invaded and so she needs to find a new one. Away from everyone else. 

Instead she finds the Director.

**

In all honestly, Leonard Church had hung back from the reunions. He hadn’t meant to, but it had just sort of happened. While he still had distance on his side, galaxies and quadrants away from the Planet Chorus, he felt he had been ready for anything of his past. 

He’d survived his meeting with Connecticut, hadn’t he?

But as they’d approached Chorus, he’d been growing steadily less convinced. It had been waning bit by bit until finally the moment came where he’d drifted into that open area and found himself staring at a lineup of his former soldiers.

In that moment, he knew that he wasn’t ready. 

He needed time to think, time to prepare, time to work out exactly what he was going to say because there was so much he needed to say. He wished Davey was here to help him out. 

It was there that Carolina found him.

**

It’s a moment that neither has prepared for but it came too quickly. But they are both Churches, and with Epsilon in the mix there is no way that the Universe as an entity is going to pass up the opportunity to make sure that things don’t go as planned for any of them.

It certainly doesn’t help that the last time they saw each other, there had been an implicit understanding that they weren’t going to see each other again. 

That it was a final meeting. 

Now it was just awkward.

Leonard Church stares at his daughter and wonders how he’s even going to explain himself. What he’s doing there and in the company of a bunch of supposed insurrectionists. It’s absolutely ridiculous, the more he thinks about it. How does he explain about the trial, about coming back to himself, about finding the organization, or his new work in prosthetics and robotic limbs, and the more he thinks the more unbelievable his story becomes. 

How does he even begin to explain his change of heart, never mind the rest of it?

Carolina stares at the Director, her father, and doesn’t know what to think. She’d mourned him, made peace with the whole situation, moved on with her life and now, here he was, alive in front of her. She’s more relieved than she cares to admit though Epsilon is quite content to comment on it. The other part of her is angry because if he was alive, why did she have to expend all that energy mourning him? It seemed like a waste now. 

Though, she cannot deny that there is something different about him. He seems more awake, alive, present. Like he’s been freed from some prison and not the literal one he was in. It’s as if she’s seeing her father for the first time. The man he was supposed to be. 

It was uplifting in a way. 

They’re quiet for a long time, before Carolina starts mumbling an excuse and turns to go. It’s Leonard who stops her, not quite reaching out but finding his voice.

“It’s a bit of a long story, but I met a girl who reminded me of you.”

Carolina pauses, and eventually turns around to look at him, quizzically, and he takes a breath to continue the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm fairly convinced that the Universe has it out for anyone named Church in this series, and I love playing with that.


	4. York/Wash/North

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _And just like that, it’s as if nothing’s changed. Like the entirety of the collapse of Project Freelancer just wasn’t a thing. They could just as easily be sitting in the mess hall of the Mother of Invention, shooting the shit between missions._

Washington is still reeling from the previous night. 

Until mere hours ago, he was convinced that he, Carolina, and North were the only ones left of Project Freelancer. That everyone else that he knew, that his friends, were gone. 

It’s more than surreal to find out that they’re alive, and well. All of them. Including the Director. He can feel his brain short circuiting. It’s why he hasn’t approached anyone. He’s not sure what to say, how to react and until he can properly formulate a reaction that is actually some level of coherent and not letting his voice reach that second octave, he figures he should keep his distance.

York, typically, ruins that. He slides in, seating himself across the table from Wash and starts talking before Wash has a chance to say anything or ever register the other freelancer.

“So I tried talking to Carolina and she just walked away from me. Did I do something wrong? I mean, all I said was “hey.””

And just like that, it’s as if nothing’s changed. Like the entirety of the collapse of Project Freelancer just wasn’t a thing. They could just as easily be sitting in the mess hall of the Mother of Invention, shooting the shit between missions.

Wash resists the urge to punch York.

It’s not an unfamiliar feeling, but it’s weird to be directing those feelings towards York. Typically they’re angled more towards Tucker, or Grif, or Sarge these days. He’d almost say it was comforting. York probably deserves it. 

York is oblivious to this struggle.

“Wash, please. I need answers. And you’ve been hanging out with her, has she talked about me?” 

“York, I think you need to slow down a bit. I see smoke coming out of Wash’s helmet,” North says, sitting down beside Wash. There’s a look of relief from both Wash and York. North is here, and balance is restored.

“Right. Sorry,” York says, but he’s taken off his helmet and he’s smiling. “I missed you guys. And like hell I’m going to talk to Wyoming or Florida about this.” 

He looks older. They all look older. Tired, worn, lines on there faces where there didn’t need to be any for years.

“Hey, I missed you to, buddy,” North replies. “What the hell even happened to you?” 

“I could ask you guys the same question. I mean, have you guys been together all this time?” York looks curious, and almost hurt by the idea. 

“No. This is a recent development,” Wash replies, shortly. “Honestly, I thought you all were dead. I just operated under that assumption until I ran in to Carolina.”

“I think I was the only one stayed with Freelancer until it collapsed…” North pauses, picking his words carefully. “The Oversight Committee sent me here and I’ve been working with the Federation Army. That’s how I ran into Wash.”

York looks at Wash, expectantly. His eye is still messed up.

“Look, how I got here is a really long story.”

“We got time,” York says, but Wash shakes his head. He’s really not up for that one right now. Maybe he’ll save it until after York has met the Reds and Blues. 

They sit in silence for a while. There’s still the sense that questions are in the air.

“Hey, North…do you,” York pauses, taking a breath. “Do you still have Theta?”

“No…Delta?”

“Nope.”

“Epsilon’s with Carolina,” Wash is almost as surprised that he volunteered that information as York and North are. “They get along better. I guess they’re almost siblings.”

The silence that hung in the air previously returns with a palpable vengeance.

“Okay, Wash. With a statement like that you better start explaining, and I don’t care how long it takes,” York says flatly. North looks at Wash and just starts laughing. 

Wash just sighs and takes a breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been rewatching RvB and got to Out of Mind. I missed York more than I thought would.
> 
> Who's hyped for Season 15?


	5. Wash/CT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _It was actually amazing how time and questions and betrayal and a vague sense of relief could fit into such a small space._

CT keeps largely to herself.

In this wild rush of reunions and meetings, she’s really not sure where she fits in and so she keeps to herself. Part of her wants to talk to the other Freelancers again, say something, acknowledge what happened. She used to be one of them, didn’t she? She kept the name after all.

But it doesn’t change the fact that she betrayed them. That when all was said and done, she wasn’t really on their side. And if she was being honest, once she left, she hadn’t planned on showing her face around them again. 

She felt trapped between a rock and a hard place. 

The rest of her companions were no help. Robert and Ian were not interested in playing nice with the Freelancers for the moment and the Director had similar misgivings to CT, perhaps on a larger scale. Though he had managed to have a conversation with Carolina, which all things considered, was more of a start than CT had. 

And so she figured she would keep her distance. And then go where she was told. Just be the sheep despite all her inclinations not to.

The Universe had other ideas in store.

But that’s par for the course really.

It came in the form of Agent Washington. He hadn’t necessarily been looking for CT, instead trying to track down the members of Blue team to make sure they hadn’t started something or worse. (And he needed to hear the exact history of Tucker and Wyoming so he could get involved should the Freelancer attempt to rekindle old grudges. Wyoming was patient after all). But when he saw CT, he found himself pausing. 

Even though they were only about fifteen feet away from each other, the gulf felt larger. It was actually amazing how time and questions and betrayal and a vague sense of relief could fit into such a small space.

“Wash,” CT said, surprised that she was using the old nickname. There were words waiting to spill out of her mouth but she held them back because they weren’t the words she wanted to say. She wasn’t sorry, she didn’t think she had to apologize but at the same time she wanted to acknowledge what she’d done. Wanted to acknowledge her part in everything that happened to Washington, and maybe apologize for some of that. He’d been an unintended casualty. 

“CT.” It surprised Wash that he to, would use the nickname. He didn’t know what to say next. Like many of the other Freelancers, Wash had let CT go, never expecting to see her again, or get answers, or learning why she did what she did. He could feel the old emotions coming back again, equal parts anger and betrayal and wanting to tell her that she was right and he should have trusted her.

It’s a mess. An uncomfortable mess that’s not going to be solved here. It’s not something Wash is ready to deal with yet, still too overwhelmed by everything. It’s not something CT is ready to deal with yet, still not sure how to explain her actions and accept the consequences.

“I’m glad you’re alive,” is all Wash manages to say before he leaves to return to his earlier errand. Blue Team, at least, is not that complicated.

“Yeah, you to,” CT replies, and she smiles behind her helmet. If nothing else, it’s a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The question of "what do you say to a person you cared about but have a complicated past with and thought that they were dead for a good chunk of time but is now standing in front of you and you should probably acknowledge their presence?" seems to come up a lot in this fic series. I think Wash did a slightly better job than York.
> 
> Thank you all for reading and kudos and comments and everything <3 It's always appreciated.


	6. South/CT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Where Wash is patience and some form of understanding wrapped up in an overwhelming blanket of confusion, South is anger and fury and a list of demands_

CT does not have time consider her next meeting with Wash because the next person she encounters is South Dakota. 

It’s not an ideal meeting.

Where Wash is patience and some form of understanding wrapped up in an overwhelming blanket of confusion, South is anger and fury and a list of demands. She wastes no time in approaching CT, in demanding answers, in wanting an explanation and there is no North Dakota around to temper her. 

Thanks for nothing, North.

“Well?” South demands again and CT is not sure what to say first. Again she is caught between apologizing and not. She still believes what she did was right. She’s not afraid of South, but there is an intimidation to her that cannot be ignored. 

“He had to be stopped,” is what CT finally says. “The Director, what he was doing was wrong, and he had to be stopped.”

“Well obviously!” South replies, though it’s hard to say whether that reaction comes from before or after the project fell apart. “That’s not what I’m mad about, Connie! I’m mad about the fact that you left! You betrayed us! You went off on your own and didn’t even try to tell us what was going on!”

And in many ways, South is right. She didn’t really try to talk to the other freelancers. She went outside the system and stayed there. They were supposed to be her team but she was a mole and always had to keep her distance. Couldn’t let herself get too close, lest she get caught up in their way of thinking. As much as she had wanted someone to talk to, it couldn’t have been another Freelancer.

“Only because you were all caught up in your worship of him! In believing in him because of all he’d done for you! Didn’t you see he was playing you?”

“Didn’t you see the lines being drawn after the AIs came into the picture! You’re not the only one who didn’t like what they were seeing, Connie. And I really could have used someone to talk to back then.”

Those words struck CT harder than she thought. Thinking back, she had been closer to South than any of the other Freelancers. Us ladies have got to stick together, she had said once. And they had, because the other options had been Carolina and Tex, both distant in their own ways. Because they’d both been towards the bottom of the list. 

And the honesty in South’s voice probably hurt the most. 

“I need to go,” she said suddenly, turning on her heel and heading off in a direction, needing distance from South more than anything else. She needed to think.

South fumed but didn’t go after her, her hands clenched in a fist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie, this one kind of hurt to write. Think I might need to explore this more at a later date.
> 
> Thinking next time I might change things up a bit. Go back and check on how some other relationships are dealing, if you know what I'm saying.
> 
> Thanks for reading and commenting and kudoing. It's always appreciated <3


	7. York/Carolina (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you don't succeed at first, try try again

York is feeling better this time around.

He can’t say what it is. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s talked to Wash and North. That those old bonds hadn’t completely severed and that once the conversation started going, it was just like old times. Sure Wash was a bit more sarcastic now and not the old rookie that he used to be, but it added a new dynamic. And he liked it.

Maybe, York thought, maybe that was all it took. He needed to just start the conversation with Carolina and it would all fall into place. He just needed a chance. And he had just the line to do it with. And he’s risk the throat punch.

**

It’s still all too much for Carolina.

Too many familiar people who she thought she had let go of, or at least moved past. After her conversation with the Director, with her father, it had felt like enough. She didn’t need to talk to anyone from Freelancer again just yet. She still wanted to digest that conversation, probably the most normal conversation she’d had with him in years. It almost made her hopeful for the next one? It was a weird and uncomfortable feeling that she didn’t know how to deal with and didn’t really have anyone to talk to about. Epsilon was no help. 

She went to train instead. It wasn’t really focused training, more so going through the motions so that she could think. Movement helped with her thoughts and she had a lot of them.

And maybe it would distract her from the other lingering one.

**

She was training again.

Of course she was training again. York didn’t know why he thought any differently. But he wasn’t an infiltration specialist for nothing, and with Carolina distracted it would be easy to sneak in around the back. Rusty skills or not. 

Appearing behind her was just asking for trouble so instead he walked around her until he was in her field of vision. She didn’t stop with her motions so he moved closer until he was only a few feet away. She didn’t acknowledge him. 

He cleared his throat.

“Hey Carolina, if I said you had nice armour, which you do but I think you updated it, would you hold it against me?”

**

With all her activities on Chorus, Carolina’s skills had not dulled. And with Epsilon on board, she was well aware of York. Almost too aware and it bothered her. Instead she’d stayed focused. And tried not to acknowledge him, because it was hard to imagine him as not dead. She’s come to terms with that knowledge and having it brought back to the forefront was something she did not appreciate. 

The only explanation she was allowing herself right now was that York was a ghost, a manifestation of her stress.

And then he’d said that ridiculous pick-up line. And acknowledged the fact that she had changed some of her armour.

She turned towards him, looking like she was about to say something but thing deciding against it and shoving past him. The thing that bothered her the most was that York was definitely solid.

**

York watched her go. 

This time, he had expected that. But she’d almost said something. And she’d pushed him. 

Progress, he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life continues to be a thing and adulting sadly must happen more often than not. Also video games.
> 
> But sometimes things align, and I'm certainly not done with this fic yet.


End file.
